Hiiiii! Long time no see/hear from me! Unless you follow me on instagram (queenof1stjungle) or facebook. This time of year is NUTSO and throw being 8 1/2 months pregnant on top of it.... you may see why I need to remind myself about that precious break we get!

Michelle from Fabulous in First and I decided it would be SO fun to have this be a weekly linky party until the end of the year. Sometimes as teachers we work so hard that we forget we are humans and need breaks! So our intention with this post is to talk about what we are doing for ourselves outside the classroom AND to inside the classroom to hold on to that little bit of sanity we have left :)

So read my post (duh) and grab the above image to link up with us at the bottom of my post or Michelle's.

So here is my list of what is helping me now that Spring Fever has hit....

OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM:

1. Embracing the sunshine and fresh air. Surely all your snow has melted?? RIGHT? My kids are maniacs about their bikes so we are getting outside as much as possible!

2. BEACH- We are blessed enough to live about ten minutes from the beach. Blessed is definitely the operative word! There is something about the sound of the ocean that truly settles my soul. All my problems are washed away by the sound and smell of salt water!

3. This guy- I mean who wouldn't be in a good mood with this guy around. Have you met my puppy Hank? He is the absolute bestest dog ever, just please don't ask him if he is a Weimaraner. It hurts his feelings a little bit! Ha (He's actually a Silver Lab- part of the Chocolate family and not many people have heard of his kind).

4. Fresh Flowers- I keep them everywhere. I have to. When I need to be inside, they help me feel as if I am not! These centers will be finished tomorrow night, please check my FB for updates!

INSIDE THE CLASSROOM:

1. Neon. If it is important- I print it on neon paper... otherwise it is just not seen! Since I switched to doing my newsletter on bright color I am receiving less and less notes with questions. Not that I don't love answering the questions, but this is such a timesaver!

3. COOL Science experiments. I am all about authentic purposes for writing. My students were writing lab reports for our Lucy Calkins Units of Study. This week my kids wrote out the steps to this Rainbow Cloud Experiment from A Day in First Grade. We then invited a class of Kinders to our room to duplicate the experiment. We had a BLAST!

4. And last but not least a tip. School supplies never cease to amaze me. I turn around and they are GONE. I went and bought my LAST (I swear it) haul of pencils and erasers. I labeled them and bribed my kids with a GoNoodle party to see who can keep up with their supplies the longest. Fingers crossed this does the trick!

Now- your turn! I can't wait to hear what you are up to these last couple of months!